These Two Players Are The Tops

It’s always a good sign when two players who have been on the periphery of the first team this season, finally get a start, and they play very well and in fact turn out to be Newcastle’s best two players.

Hatem Ben Arfa – top man – again
And that’s exactly what happened on Tuesday night, and following the withdrawal of Yohan Cabaye, who signed on at PSG yesterday – both Hatem Ben Arfa and local lad Sammy Ameobi got starts at Norwich City and lead our poll for Man of the Match,

Ben Arfa leads with 38% of the vote, followed by Sammy with 22% and Moussa Sissoko in third place with 14%.

We’d love to see both of these very skillful wingers get a lot more chances for Newcastle in our last 15 games of the season – and of course Ben Arfa has always been a match winner for Newcastle.

87 responses so far ↓

Well, I guess the litmus test for this ownership is how it invests its cash as it now starts to come in.

If you could bring yourself to be gracious you might argue that up till now we’ve been prudent because the cash wasn’t there yet. But now it should start to roll in, if I understand things correctly and so we should expect to see a greater outlay on players and infrastructure.

Will austerity wash when there’s money in the bank and an owner benefitting from the global exposure that comes on the coat tails of NUFC and the EPL?

No we can’t blame Pardew for the lies he’s told to spout out on behalf of Ashley and no we can’t blame him for the way Ashley runs the club…he’s just doing what most managers without an ounce of decency would do….that’s making sure he gets paid every month of course…because if he had an ounce of decency and any money in the bank he’d resign and manage West Ham.

…but we can blame him for not getting the best out of a very good squad…we can blame him for the way he sets up the team and we can blame him for stifling some great talent.

Not an ounce of decency and a dinosaur manager from a bygone era whose just taking the money.

can’t believe some of you still think we’ll get someone else in during this window…we’ve known about cabaye’s departure since the summer yet not planned to bring anyone else in.

We were in the same position as Spurs knowing how much we were going to get and could have gone out and got his replacement without anyone out there knowing Cabaye was going and how much for…especially as the last bid from Arsenal was circa 10 million.

If we were genuinely going to get someone else in we would have them by now and would have tied it all up before cabs skipped of the PSG.

It’s all bollox…no-one else coming in…Ashley will wait til the summer because we’re safe and nothing to lose but lots of money to save because Ashley won’t held to ransom by the clubs who know how much we got for Cabs

I was never a fan of Cabaye’s. I think he’s smug and petulant. However, there was something missing from the midfield play. The passing wasn’t as quick and you could tell there was a lot more hesitation than usual.

I thought Sammy did really well, he could have done better if Remy had decided to actually pass the ball. He’s improved drastically in the last 18 months. He can only go 60 minutes though.

Sissoko was my MOTM..dont know how he makes it 90 minutes with all the running he does. He oddly makes a better winger than Ben Arfa when he gets the ball in those positions.

I am equally disappointed but you are clouding two issues here surely. I am frustrated with Pardew often but let’s put it this way. Man U won the title plenty of times ugly. If AP can do the same in years to come I won’t complain, just a little in the interim mind ‘

Dingo…no gloom mate…if you look back at any of my posts I support the team 100% all the time and think they perform miracles despite the shackles round the players ankles and necks…IMO we win games because we have players who despite the managers prehistoric tactics their footballing DNA just kicks in and hey do what they do best.

Once the lads cross the white line on the pitch I’m on there with them…once the final whistle blows I’m usually left with me head in me hands wondering what could have been…but that’s life under the current regime.

You sound like Catchy and you’ll not do yourself any favours imitating his somewhat limited imagination!

Give it a break, step back and look at the bigger picture before spitting your venom at Pardew. You might just see that you might focus your attention on Kinnear who you may consider more worthy of your wise observations.

I’v seen this hatred all too many times on this blog.. Blame the manager.

It’s becoming tiring.

It was tiring 12 months ago when we were going through a shocking spell with injuries when our best players missed more than half of the games of the season.

People blamed Pardew and said he could of done better. Maybe so. But we got to the quarters of Europa which im proud we give it a go. Something has to give, which was our league form.

Thats not good enough for some people. I think it is, but people are waiting for the run of bad results which they can carry on the ridicule rather than praise when it is due because of their eho’s rather than support this manager and team.

This year he has proved those people wrong again without the extra games and without the injury crisis and with having absolutely no say in transfers. I think that is credible. Infact I know it is.

Some people need to get a grip on what this football club wants to achieve. We have had some very very credible results this season, anyone can pick out a bad result but the table does not lie.

At the moment, it’s very little where ambition is concerned. That is not the managers wrong doing. He is no miracle worker.

I’ll argue when we have a squad like City’s or PSG’s and want to break the top four. Then we may look at a top class manager to take us forward.

And then it’s going to be a right job bringing him here. Do you think Pelegrini, Mourinho or any other up and coming quality tactical genius is going to take what Pardew is on right now?

o be honest, the thing most people consider our strength is perhaps our weakness. Im talking about SCOUTING.

We have looked at, perhaps too much at, cabella and grenier.
Shouldnt we have looked at others too. Shouldnt we have a list of 4 to 5. Is it fine to identify 2 players and keep waiting till we get them.

Guys, if Grenier doesent come today then forget about it.
Reading by the comments, its almost sure anyways that he aint coming.

Respect the positive views but I agree with Sparky, we are not progressing one bit in a footballing sense with this manager. What do we stand for? What is our style of play? I have no idea and neither does anyone else. Southampton play passing football, Liverpool are devastating on the break, Man City are pace and power, West Ham hoof ball, NUFC who knows, it swings from game to game, hence the unpredictable results. That is NOT the owners fault, it’s the Manager and coaches. Pardew is on the verge of another historical milestone for NUFC, 3 defeats in a row against the unwashed, if that happens against a poor unwashed side, at home, then he should walk as that is the end of our season, humiliated and going nowhere.

So your basing our progress under Pardew against Sunderland only.. What about..

A fifth place finish
Quarters of Europa with a fragile and small squad
Victorys against multiple top 6 sides over the past few years.
No say in transfers or who he has had to lose

The football?

How can we possibly have some sort of footballing identity with the way this football club has been run from top to bottom?

We have an identity. It’s erratic for very good reasons.

This football club has been through turmoil, uproar, protests, all because of incomings, outgoings, poor judgement and a lack of consideration from this regime in this past 6 years. Hell, they can barely speak to it’s fan base.

We may well support the team on the pitch and the manager may slip up like any other human being but there is mountable other factors that come into play other than players and managers.

Fed up with the doom and gloom hate club. We are making progress and heading in the right direction regardless of whom is the manager and what the board are doing. The club are financially sound despite the owner debt and we are no longer a club who buy expensive players and then sell them on for nothing because they can’t cut it in the EPL. When we have sold it’s been for a profit and the right reasons.

Regarding ambition and reality the target was always a top ten finish this season and that is something we will achieve. Being realistic that will be an acceptable finish and will lay a good foundation to build on for next season. Everybody wants instant success however it does not happen overnight however we are moving in the right direction.

As for HBA one match does not cut it for me. On another thread somebody posted that the stats suggest we lost 60% of the games when Cabaye didn’t play, however you could look at it another way and that is when HBA played we lost more games than we won.

not only did he squander several chances he also took on too many players when he had options. I’ll put it plain and simple, he is not a team player, he gives away possession to cheaply, doesn’t tackle back and unbalances the team making it easy for other teams to counter attack and cut us open. If he was half as good as some people on this forum make out, why have none of the top teams made an offer for him? It’s simple they look at the impact he has, the pluses and minuses and there are too many negatives for them to contemplate.

It’s simple, HBA is a luxury not many teams can afford and that is why he’s still at Newcastle.

Sammy looked good but unless his stamina and commitment improve he will remain a bit player.

It’ll be interesting to see how LDJ settles in as he could be a very good player for us and it would also be good to see Cisse given a couple of games with him to see if he can recapture his form and confidence however I personally think if Cisse doesn’t improve he’ll be sold during the next window.

I have to say I wanted Pardew out at the end of last season, however I have enjoyed watching Newcastle this season. I think we’re playing decent football with plent of commitment.
Yes there has been some sticky moments this season, every team has those no matter how good they are. Even Man City have had their poor spells this season.

“We beat Chelsea and spurs with Ashleys outlook so that proves we’ve got a decent team that can perform…that very same team due to poor footballing management cost us the results mentioned earlier.”

That is a quote from Sparky55, I just don’t get the attitude that when we win it is because the players have done it, but if we lose it is the managers poor tactics. Both take credit and blame of the same proportions whatever the result, it isn’t like Pards took the day off when we beat Spurs, Man U or Chelsea he still picked and set up the team so he got it right.

I’m not a fan of Pardew, and didn’t want him here this season, but he has been doing okay. Still prone to be a bit cautious at times, but he has certainly tried to get them playing football more this season.

He has got a very good group of maybe 14 players, but after that it is average at best, so whilst it isn’t a great squad it isn’t bad either. I think he has us pretty much where we should be this season with the players at his disposal.

I don’t like pardew, but he has done well so far.
He has gambled and took risks trying new things, sometimes work sometimes didn’t, but that’s what I like to see in a manager.
Regarding transfers, I don’t think we will sign anyone not because we didn’t try but because the players were unavailable mostly due to mid season, but I’m still hoping there will be a good surprise.
I can’t really blame our transfer policy, we only go for the right players and loan with option to buy is also good policy to see if the player can cut it in PL before we sign them permanently. We have fair share of bad history signing sh!t players in the past and we paid heavy price for that. Beye, Cacapa, Tomasson, Luque, Xisco, Owen, Rozenhal, Geremi, Viana,etc.
Recently Obertan, Marveaux, we could probably add Cisse in that category.
IF we just signed any players just for the sake getting bodies in, we will be stuck with them until they run out of contract.
Even without anymore addition other than LDJ, I’m confident that we will be ok this season. We have a fit squad this season , thanks to Faye.

You two are idiots. Every top team has a player or players like HBA. And he does work hard for the team. He was our most energetic player in our last game. Every time he plays for us he is one of our best players even this season in which he hasn’t played that much. Just look at the post match polls.

HBA is our most talented player and if the manager showed more faith in him and built the team around him instead of babbling about his defensive ability. He would be one of the best in the league.

I don’t remember anyone slagging HBA’s lack of tracking back when we were playing 433 and destroying everyone. One of the reasons why is because he was utilized correctly. He isn’t an out and out winger and in the 433 he was used as an attacker with a lot more freedom and that allowed him to blossom.

Santon,
I agree, it is good to get a look at how a player will cope in the Prem before splashing millions on them. But I have problems with the way we are doing it.

Firstly, we had seen Remy can score in the Prem in his 6 months at QPR, so surely a outright purchase while he is available on a fixed fee relegation clause would have been best last summer. Now we risk losing him this summer, as according to Kinnear and Redknapp there is no agreed end of loan purchase price. So other clubs or being priced out are risks now.

Secondly, we now have 2 on loan strikers. Say LDJ flops, and we don’t want to spend £8.5million on him this summer, and Remy goes elsewhere, Shola is out of contract, and reading between the lines we have been active in attempting to offload Cisse. That is our 4 first team squad strikers potentially gone in the summer. Can any fan honestly say that they are confident we could buy 4 strikers – given our hunt for value – good enough for the Prem in one summer while other clubs know how desperate we are? Not to mention every club knowing about the extra cash available in the Prem now.

For me, we needed at least 1 striker bought in permanently this window who could slot straight in, and a younger one who would be capable of chipping in from the bench next year.

Regarding Remy, I think there are reasons why we didn’t sign him permanently.
1. he switched at last second to go to QPR and got relegated and QPR bought a lot of players last season.
2. Rape case
3. Redknap being an @ss

If we lose those 4 strikers in summer, I’ll be happy to see shola and Cisse gone tbh, if LDJ is a flop then so be it. so Remy is actually the only loss that we do not want.
We might have to see how Campbell does this season, I think he will be good player for us next season. We also have Vuckic who can play 2nd striker, hopefully he will be good player too. Then we probably need to get 2 new strikers to replace those 4. Also still have Gouffran.

Santon,
Yeah, the rape case is the major factor in no permanent deal, and to be fair that makes good sense.

On the point that Remy may be the only one missed, that makes more of a case to get another centre forward in now!! Remy will miss the next 3 games, I am not confident in LDJ being a regular scorer, good player but has never been a great goalscorer, and with Goofy injured (not sure for how long) and Cabaye gone we are missing players who have scored 2/3rds of our league goals this year!!

On Vuckic, he has 1 goal in 11 games at Rotherham. While I think the kid has ability, he needs to be showing more than what he is currently. I also think he is far more of an attacking midfielder, link man or a number 10 then an actual striker.

Campbell will be interesting. He seems to be doing okay at St Mirren, although he has been used on the left wing a could of times. But it is a lot to put on the kids shoulders if we fail to bring in sufficient in the summer. I would much prefer him to force his way past first team strikers and earn his place, then get his game because we have nothing else.

We gambled last season hoping youngsters would step up, it is a much bigger risk doing it if they are the people you are relying on for goals!

If we lose 4 strikers in summer, I don’t think we will gamble on Campbell to be our main striker.
I think it’s best if we just hope for 2 new strikers instead 4 new ones, so we won’t get disspointed if we only get 2.
Anymore than 2 will be bonus

So against sunderland, we are without Remy and probably Gouffran. I really don’t want to see Sholadinho in 1st eleven regardless his record against them.
I would go with:
——————–Krul——————–
Debuchy—-Willo——Saylor/Mbiwa—Haidara
————Anita———–Tiote————
Santon————Sissoko———–Sammy
—————–HBA/LDJ—————-
or
LDJ and HBA without Sammy.

Santon,
Mbiwa for Saylor, Santon back to left back with HBA on the right LDJ up front. The lad has been training and available for Borussia so he should be fit to step straight in.

Once Remy is back, Remy onto the left for Sammi and play more of a 433 than a 4231, with HBA and Remy playing off LDJ. Anita and Tiote doing the covering for full backs so that Remy and HBA don’t have to track back, but press and harass the opposition higher up the pitch.

I think they wait and see on LDJ, if he is good then he will be signed permanently.
I think we will do more loan signing too next season.
If I’m not mistaken, 2 years ago we only have Ba and Cisse, we still managed to do well. So 2 new srikers + Campbell + maybe a loan striker will be ok, I hope.

Santon,
Ba, Cisse and Shola. But one injury and it would have all gone wrong. Which is why doing it again is a huge gamble, absolutely no guarantee anyone will stay fit. I think LDJ will be good for us, but I don’t envisage him scoring lots of goals.

We have been a striker light in the squad since promotion really, but that doesn’t make it right…

you are 100% right about light in striker department.
We should have 4 or 5 so we can also challenge for 1 of the cups.
Anyway it’s still like 4 months to go, we should wait and see what happen and I think it’s too late to do anything about it now with only 1 day left.

Santon,
Yeah, you are probably right about it being too late. I suggested this yesterday, Gomis was our top target in the summer, and Lyon will lose him for free in a few months if they don’t sell, so why not offer £15million for both Gomis and Grenier. That way Lyon get money for Gomis and we haven’t really paid over the odds for either.

While I don’t rate Gomis too highly, in a deal like this where Grenier is being touted for £12-1£15million depending on what you read, it is a low risk deal on him. He could go on our books as a free and we paid £15mill for Grenier, or mix the figures whichever way to make them work for us.

I think we nolonger interested in Gomis due to his agents behaviour, remember we already agreed for 8mil I think and the player also agreed then the agents ruin it. similar like Douglas and Ba case, and we don’t need that. I would rather give all 15mil just for Grenier.

Check,
Where have you read that?? I have to say I was a bit suspicious when he was announced ‘injured’ the other day, given the club had been touting him in Qatar, to Borussia Monchen….. and with interest from Turkey it all seemed a bit like protecting a saleable asset….

How many times have I heard people say “well we bought Cisse in January when we were fifth” that is simply because he was valued at 9M a few months earlier and Mikey thought he’d fetch 18/20M two/ two and a half seasons later, they were never really after Gomis and even at 3M he won’t be worth much more in two or three years time, bills argument of we haven’t really sold anyone is going to disappear fast as now Mikeys plans are coming in to fruition.

In honor of two dedicated Newcastle fans, who lost their lives supporting Newcastle United, when their passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday July 17th, 2014 by rebels, as they were traveling to support the team in New Zealand.

We will never forget them.

Fantasy League

Mark Harding has again set up the Fantasy League for our readers for this season.

The new code is 3641-1656 and people can set up the league here:

http://fantasy.premierleague.com

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Health Update - 4 Feb, 2015

I had another battery of medical tests early last week, and the results show my PSA count as undetectable, which means the prostate cancer is still under control, and there is no trace of cancer in the body.

I'm very pleased about that!

Ed Harrison

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“What is a club in any case?"

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“It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.”